aw WA Es BACKGROUND ON BUSINESS Small Busnesses Optmstc About The Future (NAPSA)—There’s encouragng news for Amerca’s entrepreneurs: Despte anxety about the economy, 75 percent of small-busness owners are confdent they wll be Are small busnesses confdent they wll be open ths tme next year? open for busnessat ths tme next year, and almost half say they would be wllng to open another small busness today f they had the properfnancal backng. In addton, the second annual FedEx Offce Sgns of the Tmes natonal small-busness survey found that a greater number of those polled plan to nvest n themselves, wth nearly half (47 percent) plannng to ncrease ther marketng and advertsng spendng ths year as a result of the economy, compared to 38 per- cent who consdered the change last year. Sgns Mean Busness Whenbudgets are tght, many small busnesses turn to the bascs of marketng, and the use of sgns and banners to grab customer attenton s a tme-tested Despte anxety about the econ- omy, many small-busness owners have a postve outlook for the future. extensve range of professonal sgn and bannerservces, ncludng full-color ndoor and outdoor banners, durable cut-vnyl banners, prnts, posters, plastc and metal sgns, ready-to-apply let- terng and decals, promo- tonal/vehcle magnets and more. “Gven the contnued contrac- ton of the marketplace, t’s not surprsng the small-busness out- technque. In fact, 74 percent of look has worsened over the past year,” sad Bran Phlps, pres- drve customers to busnesses. “Yet, despte ncreased concerns, small busnesses polled beleve sgns, banners and posters help Another 55 percent ndcated they use them regularly n ther current strategy, and 79 percent sad they agreed or strongly agreed that they are cost-effectve mar- ketng and advertsng tools. For small busnesses lookng to maxmze sales wth new sgnage, FedEx Offce has specalsts ready to help. The company’s network of centers provdes access to an dent and CEO of FedEx Offce. many small busnesses are cautously optmstc, and that s a postve sgn that Man Street can emerge from ths downturn.” The Sgns of the Tmes survey polled 500 small-busness owners who employ fve to 100 employees and ownfrms that generate over $100,000 n annual revenue. To learn more about the survey, vst news.fedex.com.
